Fierology
02-05-2015, 11:04 PM
Hi all,:wave1:
This is my first post on the forum. I got my 96 s/c last year. She performed splendidly on a cross-country trek, but shortly thereafter the head gasket blew. When head gasket seepage was suspected, I used block seal to both test and band-aide. She ran perfectly for probably 5k miles or so, but the leak came back even worse. I will be changing the gasket myself, and while I have everything apart, I want to take advantage of the opportunity and look into potential problem areas. It has 170,000 miles on it and has been well maintained (it was in my family since almost new, so I know it's history).
Things I plan on doing:
-It has rather new plugs and wires, and I will look at cap, rotor, pvc
-Clean throttle body including egr passages
-Thoroughly clean combustion chambers including taking head to machine shop for inspection & potential servicing
-Replace valve seals
-Lap valves, if needed (is it important to lap the valves if no solvent leaks past them?)
Other items:
-After 170k, I would expect that rings and bearings might do well to be replaced, but, that said, they showed no symptoms of ill function. Oil changes had been timely. --Are the original factory parts of such good quality that I should leave them alone if they don't exhibit problems? I'm used to working on 80's GM engines where replacement of rings and bearings is simple and inexpensive. Is there any added complication to doing the same work on a 96 Toyota? This engine seems much more refined than the 86 gm 2.5l, which leads me to wonder if there are other particulars to consider.
-Also, the transmission is functional, but it feels like it has a lot of miles on it. I have never worked on an automatic transmission. Are there particular parts I should check, replace or adjust while I'm in there? What wears out? It has had its fluid changed, but it hasn't been serviced otherwise. Torque converter? Seals? Is there anything to be gained by opening it up and looking at the condition or cleanliness of anything?
Thanks everyone for your help and all the great write ups I've been reading. I'm happy to be a part of the TVT community:thmbup:
-Michael
And thanks Timsrv for your write-up on doing this same job!
This is my first post on the forum. I got my 96 s/c last year. She performed splendidly on a cross-country trek, but shortly thereafter the head gasket blew. When head gasket seepage was suspected, I used block seal to both test and band-aide. She ran perfectly for probably 5k miles or so, but the leak came back even worse. I will be changing the gasket myself, and while I have everything apart, I want to take advantage of the opportunity and look into potential problem areas. It has 170,000 miles on it and has been well maintained (it was in my family since almost new, so I know it's history).
Things I plan on doing:
-It has rather new plugs and wires, and I will look at cap, rotor, pvc
-Clean throttle body including egr passages
-Thoroughly clean combustion chambers including taking head to machine shop for inspection & potential servicing
-Replace valve seals
-Lap valves, if needed (is it important to lap the valves if no solvent leaks past them?)
Other items:
-After 170k, I would expect that rings and bearings might do well to be replaced, but, that said, they showed no symptoms of ill function. Oil changes had been timely. --Are the original factory parts of such good quality that I should leave them alone if they don't exhibit problems? I'm used to working on 80's GM engines where replacement of rings and bearings is simple and inexpensive. Is there any added complication to doing the same work on a 96 Toyota? This engine seems much more refined than the 86 gm 2.5l, which leads me to wonder if there are other particulars to consider.
-Also, the transmission is functional, but it feels like it has a lot of miles on it. I have never worked on an automatic transmission. Are there particular parts I should check, replace or adjust while I'm in there? What wears out? It has had its fluid changed, but it hasn't been serviced otherwise. Torque converter? Seals? Is there anything to be gained by opening it up and looking at the condition or cleanliness of anything?
Thanks everyone for your help and all the great write ups I've been reading. I'm happy to be a part of the TVT community:thmbup:
-Michael
And thanks Timsrv for your write-up on doing this same job!